10 DIY Winter Skincare Recipes

Winter is still a month off, but in a lot of the northern hemisphere that cold, dry weather has already rolled in. From your hair to your toes, those harsh conditions are no fun for your skin. Not only does dry skin look unhealthy, it can be really uncomfortable, too.

There are lots of lotions and creams at the drug store aimed at healing your winter skin, but many of those contain lots of polysyllabic mystery ingredients, some of which are toxic or even contain hidden animal ingredients. Rather than roll the dice with store-bought winter skincare products, you can whip up your very own! When you make beauty products yourself, you have complete control over the ingredients, so you know that what you’re putting onto your skin is safe.

1. Homemade Sugar Scrub

A sugar scrub is perfect to exfoliating add moisturizing those dry knees and elbows, and it’s easy as pie to whip up your own, custom-scented sugar scrub! Just combine two parts sugar with one part olive or coconut oil along with 20-30 drops of your favorite essential oils combination. For winter, you might go with soothing scents like lavender, rosemary, or sage. Bonus points if you store your scrub in a reclaimed glass container, like a babyfood jar.

2. Straight up Olive Oil

Sure, you put olive oil on your salads, but it’s also a great moisturizer for winter skin. To nourish your skin, put a few drops of olive oil on when you get out of the shower and massage it in. To give an extra moisture boost to dry hands and feet, put gloves and socks on after you rub in the oil to help your skin absorb it.

Many store-bought lotions and creams contain petroleum jelly, a crude oil byproduct. In fact, Vaseline, a favorite moisturizer for many folks during the winter, is made of petroleum jelly. Luckily, you don’t need to support big oil just to moisturize your skin!† Pure coconut oil is the perfect natural alternative to petroleum jelly!

4. Avocado Lip Balm

You know that I’m a fan of food-based beauty recipes, and this avocado lip balm from From Nature With Love fits the bill perfectly! Just combine avocado oil, coconut oil, mango or shea butter with a little bit of beeswax or carnuba wax for a homemade lip balm that’s just as good as anything from the store. If your local health food store or co-op doesn’t have all of these ingredients, you can find them pretty easily online.

5. DIY Winter Face Mask

If your face is already pretty dry, you can rejuvenate it with a homemade face mask.† This recipe from Your Daily Thread calls for yogurt and honey, but you can make this a vegan recipe by using coconut yogurt and agave nectar instead.

6. Tomato Face Scrub

Exfoliate your face and give it a healthy glow with an all natural tomato scrub! This is one of the simplest beauty recipes ever: slice a tomato in half, cover in sugar or salt, then use the piece of tomato as a scrubber to gently exfoliate your face.

8. Winter Hair Mask

Healing masks aren’t just for your face! A hair mask can help moisturize your hair and protect it from the dry winter weather. You can make this hair mask recipe from Life of Blyss into a vegan recipe by using agave nectar in place of honey.

9. Pumpkin Foot Scrub

Pumpkins are still in season, so this is the perfect time of year to treat your feet with a pumpkin food scrub! Organic Authority has a fully food-based recipe that combines cooked pumpkin, brown sugar, coffee beans, olive oil, and lemon to make a moisturizing and invigorating scrub to soothe your winter tootsies.

10. Easy Winter Hand Salve

For many of us, our hands bear the brunt of the cold weather’s moisture-sapping. You can revitalize your dry, cracked skin with a simple winter hand salve that even helps if you suffer from eczema during these chilly months. A rich combination of shea butter, avocado oil, and vitamin E, this hand salve is sure to heal your hands this winter!

Do you have any tried-and-true winter beauty recipes? Share away in the comments!